Wednesday, December 31, 2014

VIBRANT HEALTH TIP OF THE WEEK~ New Year's Eve, 2014 Reflection on Being at Ease with What Is.Hello all. As I sit on this New Year's Eve morning, many posts have been made about making or not making resolutions for the New Year. I am left with this simple yet ever challenging proposal.What if we truly accepted what is, as it is, in each moment?

What if we experienced each moment unfolding through the eyes of divine spirit and not through the perception of ego and its never ending tendency to judge and separate? What if? Could you? Would you? What if the path to true happiness was actually already here just waiting for us to stop splitting our experiences up into the good the bad and the ugly? What if the only step we needed to take to open to this reality is to stop reaching for some illusive definition of happiness outside of us? What if we took deep breaths in each and every moment as a cue to stay present to what is unfolding right in front of us , and experience life as it is?

This sounds so radically simple that our egos will surely hit the reject button stating this is too simple to be true. The TRUTH is THAT SIMPLE. 'What we are seeking we already are' is a famous Zen quote. The only way to even notice that is to radically STOP splitting our experiences and attention up into various mental and emotional forms of judgement, complaint, separation and distraction. The lens by which we choose to perceive life through determines all of our experiences. If its the lens of ego we are limited. If its through the lens of spirit, we are infinite.

When we practice actually being present to what is, as it is, in the moment, an amazing phenomena occurs with the egoic mind. It begins to get quiet and an innate sense of intuitive clarity begins to emerge and experienced. We connect to spirit to the degree we disconnect from ego. How? Breath by breath, moment by moment. By making the choice to truly accept what is unfolding as it is in each and every moment, we begin to dissolve the illusive veil of ego that had us believing we were a compilation of lack and flaws fueling our ever present anxiety to self improve . This is the crux that drives New Year's resolutions and we know they have the staying power of roughly 2 weeks before our egos resume their conditioned patterns of stagnation and status quo. Know this, egos hate change and loss of control!

What we begin to get a glimpse of when we stay present to what is unfolding, as it is and truly accept it, is our true Self which is one of divine light and consciousness. Where true abundance and prosperity expresses itself through our integrated presence. Where we shine with the truth of our being as a reflection of the unity of all things. Where we orient our lives through the eyes of spirit, the divine, the creator of all that is, God, call it what you may.

It all begins with a simple choice. Breathe deep, stay present to what is unfolding, moment to moment and truly accept things as they are.Pay Attention. What you give attention grows! Notice what you are enthusiastic about and what nourishes you deeply and honor those things daily. Be deeply present to what is unfolding right in front of your eyes.

The Buddha said we do not need to seek some enlightened teacher, our teacher is literally right under our noses! "What we are seeking, we already are. "When we make that shift to align with the truth of our Being and the truth of reality, we also begin to powerfully align with our dharma, our unique gifts we are here to give to this world. Our True Self's calling is to be one of service to others and to the planet.

Blessings for a beautiful year ahead of breathing deeply and being present moment to moment.

" A sense of natural ease and happiness is there simply because we've opened entirely to the way things actually are" - Adyashanti

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

It's been an energetically activated week around here. This Uranus / Pluto square is not a lightweight force. If you have felt some pressures within,feeling more emotionally reactive or sleep disruptions or a lot of unsettled dreams surfacing, welcome to the evolutionary impulse club.

The energy upon us is not gently inviting us to shift and grow,it's forcing us to shift out of very old , limiting and unconscious patterns of mind. This is akin to something bringing you to the edge of a cliff and instead of persuading you to take the leap, actually pushes you off! This is when the saying " leap and grow your wings on the way down" comes in handy!

What's being nudged to the surface? Old fears. Old ideas , concepts, paradigms and conditions of the mind that you have used to define who you think you are. We are all being called to step into a deeper truth, a deeper conscious alignment with who we really are at the soul level. We are being challenged to stop sleepwalking through life.

Life is so fleeting. So fragile. Daily we hear of tragic loss of life via senseless violence. In those shocking moments we actually do pause for a second and take a breath just to try and take in the magnitude of the sorrow of the loss of life. Then we quickly shift and move on to the agendas of our days. I found myself jaw dropped with some local and national stories of violent sieges and then just as quickly, reflexively scrolled over to check the weather for the day. There is something very disturbing about this ADD in our lives and the reality that we are sensory & information overloaded to the max and getting to a point we cannot even process the depths of what is really occurring on so many levels within ourselves, the nation and the world. Have you noticed the momentum of these tragic losses , or political insanity seems to be increasing of late?

It's time to really take some time daily , first thing when we awaken to meditate and connect to the aspect of ourselves that is eternal,conscious and integrated. Take time to connect with the aspect of ourselves that will not die or suffer or go unconscious. It is only through this daily practice we can truly hope to evolve beyond the multitude of suffering we witness within us and all around us.

BE THE LIGHT. In this season of LIGHT, BE THE LIGHT.During this time of Winter Solstice, BE THE LIGHT. The Winter Solstice calls us to go into deeply to the sacred stillness of this season. To release what is not serving us and open to what is. It's the most powerful step any individual can take. Take responsibility for waking up out of complacency. Wake up out of illusion. Wake up out of the limited version of playing the gift of your life small. Wake up out of the idea that you have all the time in the world. We don't. We only have this moment. Be present to it.

It is only through a collective awakening on a global scale , one individual at a time, that humanity has any hope to evolve into higher expressions of the truth of our Being. The truth that we are THE LIGHT OF CONSCIOUSNESS. We ARE THE LIGHT OF THE DIVINE. We ARE THE LIGHT. WE ARE THE ONES WE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR. Give the gift of meditation to yourself daily. Connect to source, disconnect from the ADD GLOBAL mind. Connect to truth and live from that intention. Our survival depends on it.Namaste & Blessings for a Conscious Day! Love & LightAnne Christine

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Namaste All~ Tis the season for unending distraction, events, social gatherings , cooking, overeating, shopping, traveling,meltdowns and STRESS ...... oooops wait a minute! Is this what I really want to choose in honoring the season of Light and Love??? Pull the brake handle for a minute, Take a breath and rewind back to start.

All conscious living begins with intention . Stating to yourself clearly & with commitment how you intend to use your energy day by day and especially now during the holiday season will determine if you create the experiences that nourish you or drain you. If you do not take the time to choose how you really want to celebrate these sacred days then the culture will choose for you and that's often a big recipe for stress.

Often when we get caught up in the momentum of a holiday season we lose sight and forgetthat we have the power of conscious choice. We can choose very specifically what we will participate in and what we will not. We can choose how we spend our time, resources and energy on activities that we believe in or activities that drain us, energetically, spiritually and at this time of year financially. To go into debt to purchase items for family or friends as an expression of your love is very skewed. What are some easier more creative ways for you to express your love authentically without creating an exchange of debt for yourself be it financial or energetic. People really do appreciate our time and attention more than anything that comes in a box.

Part of living a yogic life is to make a commitment to live in alignment with the inherent ethical laws of nature. The first one called AHIMSA means non-harming. I find at this time of the year especially practicing AHIMSA keeps me attuned to the rhythm and balance of life. First principle of any choice we make, Do No Harm. If its exhausting you to run around to multiple events, shopping until you are stressed and irritable, buying things that may have questionable manufacturing practices from countries that do not honor the welfare of their workers, again, we have the power to choose and with the internet now, there are so many other positive options like non-profit sites that do offer thank you gifts for your donations or gifting in a name of a loved one as the benefit of your contribution.

Changing some holiday habits at first may actually feel like stress as you are shifting your focus from a standard set by someone or something else to one set by you and your deeper convictions and that my friends is the key to living authentically in alignment with your sacred Self.About 12 years ago I began a tradition of offering a FREE Winter Solstice Yoga class as my way to honor the sacred time of solstice and to open my doors to the community and offer my gifts to have an experience that helps remind them of the true blessings of this time of year. This years class will be Sunday Dec. 21 4-6pm . This is one way I can extend myself and share the love.

Every one of us is a living spark of the Divine endowed with creative gifts. Sharing that aspect of who we really are with each other is truly in the spirit of Light and Love. I hope I can inspire you to share your creative light this season. By giving of our time, attention and hearts we help to embody the power of conscious choice and help to amplify the energy of unity within ourselves, our families, communities and the world at large.

I will leave you with a quote from Pema Chodron,author of dozens of books on Tibetan Buddhist teachings of mindfulness and the only American female, fully ordained Tibetan nun who runs the Gampo Abbey in Nova Scotia. Pema is the embodiment of true wisdom that flows from a conscious heart and mind."If you have embarked on this journey of self-reflection, you may be at a place that everyone, sooner or later, experiences on the spiritual path. After a while it seems like almost every moment of your life you’re there, where you realize you have a choice. You have a choice whether to open or close, whether to hold on or let go, whether to harden or soften, whether to hold your seat or strike out. That choice is presented to you again and again and again."

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

VIBRANT HEALTH TIP OF THE WEEK~ The Winter Desire to Hibernate is Calling!

This always happens. December rolls in, we have had a few snows thus far and a few sub freezing days and every cell in my body wants to hibernate by a warm fire. Its always contrasted by the equally amped up tempo of the outside world with the ready, set, go adrenaline rush to shop, cook , decorate and party. What to do? I choose to keep it as simple and quiet as I can for these weeks leading up to the winter solstice and the New Year. It's really a sacred portal time to enter into deeper sensitivities on so many levels. Nature has created the stage for us to slow down. Cold, ice, wind and snow to name just a few of the elemental messages.My thinking mind wants more rest, my body wants more rejuvenation (interesting time for our nutritional habits for sure ) and my spirit wants a place to land and be fully present.

So this is my strategy.

For every activity I have in my day I am asking my spirit what really needs my attention today. What are the essentials and what can I let go of.

I am making slow cooked meals, chilis or soups etc so that process is soothing and easy and in the right tempo with this internal desire to be warm and nourished.

I am going to bed a bit earlier so getting up in the pre-dawn dark for my daily yoga practice is doable.

Listen to sacred music! One really powerful gift of the season is the amazing music! Fill your space with these beautiful hymns, chants, and songs. For me thats usually chants and this time of year anything celtic will stir my soul.

Honor daily sadhana and meditation practice. There is nothing more powerful for your spiritual evolution than being still!

I literally stay out of any big box stores. Its too much for my nervous system. I choose smaller and local shoppes that offer hand made items or unique gifts that I feel are worthy of buying and giving.

So hibernate? Not quite. We are social animals and we do have this gift of living in a human body within this practical world so its always a task of navigating a beautiful balance between what energy I send and share in the world and what I cultivate within myself. Take the time for stillness, there is no better advice than that! It will nourish you on every level.Namaste and Blessings for a Balanced Days & Solstice Season! Anne Christine